According to current research, 40 million computer users in the United States have a television near their computers and use the two media synchronously. At the same time, a number of one-screen devices (such as ‘set-top’ boxes) that can combine computer and television functionality are becoming more prevalent.
A number of television companies have produced interactive television (ITV) applications utilizing a home computer for the interactivity and synchronizing the interactive content to the television broadcast. These include TBS (Friends and Dinner & A Movie), Comedy Central (Win Ben Stein's Money), Game Show Network (Greed), and ABC (Who Wants To Be a Millionaire). In addition, a smaller number of households have set top boxes (i.e., cable boxes) or net top boxes (e.g. AOLTV, UlitmateTV) that are capable of providing television overlays for ITV applications. A number of television companies have either provided ITV applications specifically for this platform, for example, CBS (CSI), or provided interactive television applications that can be accessed by both a home computer and a capable set top box or net top box (e.g., Friends, Greed).
Typical ITV applications produced to date have been produced after the television production was completed (in case of taped shows). The interactive content was written to complement the primary video content. Close synchronization of the interactive content with the primary video content to which it related was accomplished through coordination with personnel in the broadcast studio over the telephone. The producers of ITV applications controlled the synchronization from a remote location, and triggered each segment upon a cue from the broadcast operator.
Content can be delivered through one of several different techniques. In the case of a two-screen approach in which the screen for displaying the content is a computer, an open socket can be used whereby the interactive content is pushed to the end user. It is also known to provide additional content by encoding additional data with the television signal. This process is used, for example, with closed captioning. Another known method for providing content to users, such as users of a net-top box, is to provide a trigger to the end user device, which uses the trigger to retrieve content from a server.
To coordinate these different methods for providing content, the interactive content can be scheduled based on time codes in a program such that an item of content is provided, for example, at 10:30 after the start of a program.
Content or triggers can be embedded in a vertical blanking interval (VBI) and therefore dubbed on a copy of a master tape prior to broadcast. Requirements for testing and preparation mandate that a dubbed copy be sent to a broadcast studio several hours or days prior to broadcast. Often, however, last minute changes are desired, and it may be desirable to introduce real-time content (i.e., content created or selected while a program is being broadcast). Currently, such real-time content is typically introduced through manual efforts at a broadcast system to be incorporated into a broadcast signal.